Crystal Huang (cohort '13) assessed the impact of policies designed to address the treatment and prevention of chronic diseases in the context of HIV and obesity, using a range of causal inference and quantitative methods. The Pardee Initiative supported her research in Uganda.

Bill Gelfeld (cohort '14) examined the broader theme of deviations from presidential term limits in his Pardee Initiative-supported dissertation. His three essays identify the economic and political effects of term-limit deviations, look specifically at cases in Colombia and Venezuela, and explore other relevant historical case studies to determine which institutions are most helpful in preventing deviations.

Sung-Bou Kim empirically examined the effects of exogenous shocks and labor market policies on employment, wages, and human capital development of youth and women. The first two essays focus on Korea, a newly industrialized country that depends heavily on trade, while the third essay, supported by the Pardee Initiative, examines two sub-Saharan African countries, Liberia and Malawi.

The Pardee Initiative helped to support Abdul Tariq (cohort '10) as he set about determining which cross-country estimates of gross domestic product (GDP) are most accurate. His dissertation compared World Development Indicators, Penn World Tables, and a new dataset from the University of Queensland.

Ujwal Kharel (cohort '11) estimated of the number and rate of workplace fatalities for 215 countries from 1989-2013 using data from the International Labor Organization, and with support of the Pardee Initiative.

Using secondary data from a performance-based financing project in health facilities, and with support from the Pardee Initiative, Nono Ayivi-Guedehoussou (cohort '09) examined the concept of work satisfaction among health workers in Bénin.

With support from the Pardee Initiative, Shira Efron's dissertation explored whether unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones, can help improve food security in Africa by controlling pests such as the tsetse fly and red-billed quelea.

Sarah Kups explored local economic and security factors and internal and international migration in Mexico's urban areas as well as self-employment and business ownership among Mexican return migrants, with Pardee Initiative support.

Seo Yeon Hong's dissertation explored factors related to the decision between educational investment and child labor; the Pardee Initiative supported his research into why children work and effective policies to reduce child labor.

With support from the Pardee Initiative, Todi Mengistu's dissertation explores the ramifications and the policy implications of infrastructure investments in Sub-Saharan Africa by "non-traditional" sources: the private sector and emerging countries, especially China.

Dissertations in Progress

Pardee RAND students currently working on dissertations supported by the Pardee Initiative for Global Human Progress include:

Featured Students

Assistant Policy Researcher

Ifeanyi Edochie is a doctoral candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and an assistant policy researcher at RAND. He has an M.A. in economics from Duke University and a B.S. in economics and industrial engineering from Lehigh University. He also received the first stage Data Science…

Assistant Policy Researcher

Uzaib Saya is a doctoral candidate at the Pardee RAND Graduate School and an assistant policy researcher at RAND. His research interests include using tools from behavioral economics to understand the impact of improved health and health investments in low and middle-income countries. At…